<And then there's the Corvette guys - ever been to a NCRS meeting?
(national
corvette restorer's society)
These guys are fanatics and spend hours discussing the proper screw for the
rearview mirror (sort of like rivet discussions....)
The best story about the NCRS is one year they invited a gentlemen who had
worked on the original Corvette assembly line when it was in St. Louis. He
was the keynote speaker for their final night. He had spent the past few
days observing these club members in their discussions. When introduced he
stepped up to the podium and said "you know, it's been a real treat to be
here and talk with you folks. I appreciate the desire you have to restore
your cars accurately, but I got to tell you, when we ran out of something
on
the line we'd wander over to the Pontiac line or down to the local NAPA
store until a fresh bin of parts arrived. We just had to keep things
moving,
you know?". Needless to say he was never invited again.
Just a great story, especially for the Tiger owners....
Scott Christie
the practical purist>
Scott's story reminded me of another group of fanatics; the Ferrari people.
A friend of mine is one of the best Ferrari restorers in the country. He
has restored countless cars, and won several times at Pebble Beach and
Meadowbrook Concours. His early career had him working at the Ferrari
factory in the 60s. At one show, a 275GTB that Francois was showing for a
customer was coming very close to being a "100 point" car, but the Judges
were hard at work trying to find some small fault in the car. Finally, one
judge claimed that the paint marks on the suspension pieces were the wrong
color. In his French accent, Francois rudely said, "You don' know sheet
about that color! I work at de factory, an' when we run out of paint, we go
to the hardware store, an' buy paint! You don' know what you talking
about!"
He still won his class!
Tom
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